1998/09/01 by Teresa L. McCarty, Lucille J. Watahomigie · 80 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Anthropology #Ecology #Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy #Ethnic group #Ethnology #Face (sociological concept) #First language #Gender studies #Indigenous #Indigenous education #Indigenous language #Language revitalization #Law #Linguistics #Multilingual Education and Policy #Native Hawaiians #Oppression #Pacific islanders #Political science #Politics #Resistance (ecology) #Second Language Learning and Teaching #Social science #Sociology #Traditional knowledge
paper · doi:10.1080/07908319808666559
published in Language Culture and Curriculum 11(3), 309-324 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 1998/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Nearly two million American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians reside in the USA, representing over 500 tribes and 175 distinct languages. The uniqueness of tribal communities notwithstanding, all indigenous peoples in the USA share a history as the targets of federal policies aimed at eradicating their languages and lifeways. The legacy of those policies has been Native language loss and sociocultural dislocation, even as indigenous students have experienced considerable failure in English-only schools. Here, we argue that indigenous language education must be historically situated and as such, viewed as both an affirmation of self-determination and an act of resistance to linguistic oppression. Drawing on published accounts and first-hand testimony, we present several cases that illustrate the role of indigenous language education programmes in strengthening indigenous languages and promoting indigenous language and education rights. We conclude with an analysis of the continuing problems these community-based initiatives face, their promise and limitations as agents of language renewal, and their role as catalysts for linguistic self-determination and educational reform.